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Mount Rose makeover means businesses must move out

By TERESA BOECKEL

Updated:
07/10/2011 08:06:41 AM EDT

Road redesign strands businesses

Shops, stores and others must make way for new ramps near Mount Rose Avenue and I-83.

From left, Brian Carr of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Nathan Hess of Springettsbury Township chat as Kateri Michos of Springettsbury Township places her order with Mexitaly owner Greg Skirboll on a recent Friday. Mexitaly plans to move because ramps for the new Mount Rose makeover will be coming through where the business stands today. (DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS -- CHRIS DUNN)

From Interstate 83, the businesses near the Mount Rose Avenue interchange pop into view:

There's the Par-Tee Mini Golf with a man on a sailboat advertising the business.

There's the Budget Host Inn that grew from a one-story hotel in the 1960s to two stories in recent decades.

There's a Pacific Pride commercial gas station where trucks and buses fill up.

Business owners along Camp Betty Washington Road say they don't know where they would find another spot like it. But some will have to.

The state Department of Transportation plans to take 40 to 50 acres and raze buildings for a redesigned interchange for Mount Rose Avenue. When the makeover is finished, the new interchange is expected to make one of York County's worst intersections safer and easier for people to get through.

PennDOT will offer the property owners fair market value for the land and will help pay business owners to relocate their livelihoods. Engineers still are finalizing plans for the makeover, but land will be needed on both sides of the highway, said Justin Gochenauer, project manager for PennDOT.

PennDOT already knows which properties will require full acquisition, and those property owners and businesses will receive their letters by the fall, he said. Letters will go out next year to business and property owners who will lose a portion of the land.

* * *

Budget Host Inn

The hotel was built in 1963, and a second story was added a few decades ago.

It has attracted repeat customers over the years, said Tom Clark, one of the owners.

Some are travelers coming for events, such as a train show and a softball tournament. Others are construction workers staying for the week.

Hotel owners have invested in the business and tried to make customers feel at home.

"It's bittersweet. I hate to see it go," Clark said of PennDOT's plans. "It's hard to stand in the way of progress."

Whether the hotel will relocate will depend on the economy and what locations might be available, he said.

"We certainly would look at opportunities if they become available," he said.

* * *

Par-Tee Mini Golf

Customers will have a few more seasons to play mini golf before the bulldozers move in and the business closes.

"I'm 66, and I'm not planning to relocate," owner Barry Grendell said. "I'm happy to take the money and run. I just hope it's a nice
payout."

Grendell said he has invested about $500,000 in the business, which sits on a hill overlooking I-83. He continues to add new features, including a lighthouse that he built this spring.

Beach umbrellas and white lights help to attract drivers on Interstate 83 to pull off and play a round. Some customers stop on their way to Baltimore or Hershey, he said.

Stacey Gloeckner of Shrewsbury took her children to the golf course for the first time on a recent evening while celebrating her son, Zach's, 16th birthday.

They had always looked at it while driving by but never had time to stop, Gloeckner said.

"We had a great time," she said.

Gloeckner was disappointed to hear the mini golf course will not relocate. She said they'll be back again.

* * *

Mexitaly

Fans of the restaurant known for its Mexican and Italian dishes peppered owner Greg Skirboll with questions when he posted on Facebook recently that his establishment will be taken for a road project.

They asked: What is he going to do? Will he be paid to relocate his business? Where will he move to?

"... I don't think I could live a life without Mexitaly in it ...," Jen Kenderdine Hartman posted.

Skirboll said he hopes to move nearby. He'd also like to franchise his business, perhaps opening a new location on the west end of York before he has to relocate the one on Camp Betty Washington Road.

Hartman, who lives in Lancaster County, has been a customer for years and will follow Mexitaly to its new location. She said she hopes that PennDOT will compensate Skirboll appropriately, especially since he remodeled the place last year.

"What a blow for a small business owner," she said in an email.

Skirboll said he talked with officials at PennDOT last year before moving ahead with the renovations.

At that time, officials thought it might be eight to 10 years before his business would be impacted, he said.

However, it was a mystery even to them.

"Of my choices, it was the best option to stay," he said. "It's a great location. I'm not going to necessarily find a better location."

* * *

Pacific Pride

The commercial fueling station has been on Camp Betty Washington Road for nearly two decades, and the plan is to move it, said Steve Edris, owner of Edris Oil Service.

But that will not be easy.

Gas stations must go on land zoned for commercial uses and need special approval from municipal officials.

Edris said he would like to stay within an exit or two of his current location but has not started looking yet.

* * *

A.D. Hairdesign

The hair salon, in the building beneath Mexitaly, opened in May.

Now the owner likely will look for a new home in a few years.

The Southwest and Tuscan décor creates a soothing atmosphere for clients.

"It's like home," client Gina Mekky Baltzley of York said.

The owner declined to comment.

Baltzley said she avoids getting off at the Mount Rose intersection at a certain time of the day, and she knows that something has to be done.

"But I think it's just kind of sad, as well, to totally wipe out businesses," she said.

* * *

Former Denny's restaurant

The vacant property was nearly sold this spring, owner John Gearhart of East Manchester Township said.

He's not sure if the potential deal fell through because of the plans for Mount Rose Avenue.

However, shortly after that, PennDOT officials met with business owners about the land, including his, that will be needed for the project.

Gearhart said he knows he won't be able to sell it now.

"If they're going to take the property, nobody's going to want to move in now," he said.

* * *

Former gas station

Plans had been approved two years ago to build a drive-through Dunkin' Donuts at the former gas station and Yowza Spring Water site, said Larry O'Brien, a brokerage adviser with Rock Commercial Real Estate.

But the restaurant has not gone up, and now PennDOT plans to take the property for the improvements.

"We're sort of at a standstill," O'Brien said.

* * *

Nello Tire

Not all of Nello Tire's property will be needed for the redesigned interchange, but the business' tire warehouse could be demolished under PennDOT's plans.

"Without that, we're pretty much out of business," said Calvin Ashman, vice president of the corporation.

He thinks the state could move a ramp about 50 feet to avoid impacting the warehouse, Ashman said.

Nello Tire cannot easily move the warehouse forward or elsewhere on the property because it would lose turning radius for the tractor trailers. But the business might have to consider relocating it.

"I'd just as soon they buy me a whole new location. Then I wouldn't have to live through the two years it's supposed to take to build it," Ashman said.

People want easy access and convenience to businesses, and Ashman said he worries about losing some sales if the improvements make it harder for customers.

"Although we're hoping that it actually makes it better," he said.

* * *

Chrissy Crumling of Lower Windsor Township watches her son Max, 6, eat his personal pizza at Mexitaly last month. The Crumlings, a family of five, ate at the restaurant for the second time in a week. Soon, though, the restaurant will be forced out of its spot on Camp Betty Washington Road because of the road project at the Mount Rose Avenue interchange. The owner said he hopes to relocate.
(DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS -- CHRIS DUNN)

Lost businesses will hit local tax rolls

As it is, housing prices have been falling, hurting tax revenues, a county official said.

Removing businesses from the tax rolls because of an interchange improvement at Interstate 83 and Mount Rose Avenue will mean thousands of dollars lost for Springettsbury Township, the York Suburban School District and York County.

The school district, in particular, is concerned because it will mean a loss of about $85,000, based on the 2011-2012 tax rate.

"In these times of Act 1, it certainly isn't good news," said Dennis Younkin, director of finance and support services for the school district. Act 1 is the property-tax reform legislation that was approved five years ago.

The school board faces its usual options: raise taxes, cut expenses or go to a referendum, Younkin said.

"I guess you've got to weigh the good of the many," he said of the project.

The county will lose about $13,377.03 based on the current millage rate, treasurer Barbara Bair said.

Any reduction is not good, said Chuck Noll, the county's chief clerk and administrator. Housing prices have been falling, and the county is dealing with many assessment appeals. The cumulative impact can be significant, he said.

The township will lose about $9,200, said John Holman, Springettsbury's manager. While no one likes to lose money, the township sees some benefits.

The township has made the Mount Rose area its gateway, and it hopes the improvements will attract new businesses, as well as increase business for existing ones, he said.

Mount Rose Avenue has been plagued with crashes in that area. With the proposed safety improvements, the township hopes emergency services will not respond to as many calls there, Holman said. Those resources can be redirected to other parts of the township, he said.

The township is willing to help the businesses find new spots within the municipality, he said.

"We hope they can find a place to relocate within our community," Holman said.

* * *

Zakary Kelm, 5, of New Freedom, and his sister, Madison, 8, wait for Madison s ball to emerge from a water pipe at Par-Tee Mini Golf on a recent Saturday. The business intends to close, rather than move.
(DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS -- CHRIS DUNN)

Finding fair market value

The owners of the properties that are being taken will be offered fair market value for their land, said David Reynolds, right-of-way administrator for District 8 of the state Department of Transportation.

PennDOT gets a real estate appraisal of the property and then has a second appraiser review it, Reynolds said. That's a federal requirement. PennDOT will negotiate with the property owners. If the parties are unable to reach an agreement, the state could file to take the property by eminent domain.

The state agency also will pay businesses that will be dislocated by the project, Reynolds said. Some businesses along Camp Betty Washington Road do not own the land. They are tenants.

PennDot expects to pay about $27 million.

Roy Hoffman, a medium-sized truck tire specialist at Nello Tire, secures the lug bolts after replacing two tires of a tractor trailer on a recent Saturday. The business might lose its warehouse for an interchange improvement. (DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS -- CHRIS DUNN)